NHL Mock Draft 2019: How will the Top 10 picks go?

NHL Mock Draft: Let’s break down how the Top 10 picks will go

By Simon Vacca | Jun 20, 2019

KOSICE, SLOVAKIA - MAY 19: Jack Hughes #6 of USA during the 2019 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship Slovakia group A game between Germany and United States at Steel Arena on May 19, 2019 in Kosice, Slovakia. (Photo by Lukasz Laskowski/PressFocus/MB Media/Getty Images) /

6 of 10

VICTORIA , BC – FEBRUARY 24: Bowen Byram #44 of the Vancouver Giants looks on during a Western Hockey League game against the Victoria Royals at the Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre on February 24, 2019 in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. (Photo by Kevin Light/Getty Images) /

5. Los Angeles Kings — Bowen Byram

DOB: June 13, 2001 (age 18)
Position: D
Shoots: L
Team: Vancouver Giants — WHL
Height: 6-foot-1
Weight: 192 pounds

Far and away the top defensive prospect of 2019, Bowen Byram will likely be selected anywhere between third and fifth overall on June 21. The 18-year-old offers a host of tools that would be valuable to any organization — an ability to carry the puck with a high degree of confidence, admirable vision and a terrific two-way presence — which all but ensures that he lies at the forefront of various administrative radars.

If Byram falls into the fifth slot, expect the Los Angeles Kings to hop on the opportunity at hand. The franchise needs pieces of this variety as the winds of a rebuild rapidly blow, for the thought of the CHL’s top blue liner growing alongside none other than Drew Doughty promises to prompt a whirlwind of potential.

Home/NHL Draft